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jonathanpalfrey's review
5.0
This has been one of my favourite books for over 40 years, along with its sequels: they're good friends that I can turn to for comfort, good company, and cheering up in case of need. I know them so well by now, but I still enjoy rereading them now and then.
Each book is a little different from the others. This first one is something of a thriller, there are ruthless criminals at large, and our hero Anthony Villiers is at risk of violent death a couple of times. The danger level drops somewhat in the second book, and then again in the third, as the author realizes that the risk of death is not really an essential feature of this kind of story.
What kind of stories are these, then? I suppose they might be described as adventures in good company, in which the author himself is one of the company, and feels free to comment about what's going on, or to make observations about life in general.
Samuel R. Delany contributed an introduction to this book in 1968, part of which explains: "What follows is a gallery of gamblers, duels and doublecrosses, a minuet of manners and manners mangled; the machinery of the universe is speculated upon; inspector generals arrived to inspect it. And Anthony Villiers, gentleman par excellence, dashes through it all, buckling a swash or two, bungling a couple of others."
A comment embedded in the story itself explains that: "This is a small story. Outside is a vast Empire set in a vaster universe. Billions delve and spin, fight and love. Storms and wars shake whole planets and are never noticed. Nonetheless, here money, love and life hang in the balance; important enough things, I think you will agree, without the necessity for overstatement."
A lot of science fiction tells of world-shaking events that affect whole societies, but this is more of a miniature, a story whose events affect only the characters we meet in the course of it. It nevertheless becomes quite exciting, once you get past the scene-setting of the first few chapters.
Each book is a little different from the others. This first one is something of a thriller, there are ruthless criminals at large, and our hero Anthony Villiers is at risk of violent death a couple of times. The danger level drops somewhat in the second book, and then again in the third, as the author realizes that the risk of death is not really an essential feature of this kind of story.
What kind of stories are these, then? I suppose they might be described as adventures in good company, in which the author himself is one of the company, and feels free to comment about what's going on, or to make observations about life in general.
Samuel R. Delany contributed an introduction to this book in 1968, part of which explains: "What follows is a gallery of gamblers, duels and doublecrosses, a minuet of manners and manners mangled; the machinery of the universe is speculated upon; inspector generals arrived to inspect it. And Anthony Villiers, gentleman par excellence, dashes through it all, buckling a swash or two, bungling a couple of others."
A comment embedded in the story itself explains that: "This is a small story. Outside is a vast Empire set in a vaster universe. Billions delve and spin, fight and love. Storms and wars shake whole planets and are never noticed. Nonetheless, here money, love and life hang in the balance; important enough things, I think you will agree, without the necessity for overstatement."
A lot of science fiction tells of world-shaking events that affect whole societies, but this is more of a miniature, a story whose events affect only the characters we meet in the course of it. It nevertheless becomes quite exciting, once you get past the scene-setting of the first few chapters.
hoppy500's review
4.0
Star Well by Alexei Panshin
First of all, if the reader expects another novel like Panshin’s Rite of Passage, Star Well may cause some disappointment, since this book is very different in content and style.
Some reviewers have described Star Well as a “comedy of manners”, something like a Jane Austen novel set in a future space-faring civilization or like a less overtly ludicrous The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I wonder if Douglas Adams ever read it, as there are certain similarities in the style of the narration. The narrator has definite opinions, and often expresses them with mild sarcasm. A similar feature to Rite of Passage may be found in the pithy and often humorous observations about the nature of life, the universe and society.
The protagonist, Anthony Villiers, is a very likable, mild-mannered gentleman with hidden depths. I identified with him because he loves books and has a tendency to walk about in public absorbed in reading (which can at times also provide Villiers with an excuse for ending up where he is not supposed to be), something I used to do frequently in my younger days. He is evidently practiced at searching antiquarian book sellers, which makes him a man after my own heart. The observation of the narrator that physical books never lost their popularity because nothing else of similar usefulness and portability could be invented to replace them has of course in our day to an extent been invalidated by the capacity of devices like mobile phones to store and display thousands of different texts, which you could conceivably become immersed in while navigating thoroughfares on foot.
Villiers’ invariably polite but highly intelligent and strategically witty conversational responses are one of the most amusing aspects of the story. The reader gradually realizes that there is more to this man than at first meets the eye, but you never really get a handle on exactly how ingenuous or calculating he really is.
And this brings us to Torve the Trog. I must admit that I chose to read this book on the basis of a fascination with this name and its promise of an unforgettable character. Torve is a book-loving alien who looks something like a man-sized furry toad, and he has a view of reality which is at variance with that of the humans around him, including Villiers, who apparently finds the Trog’s ideas impossible to comprehend. Torve’s central belief (which he maintains is a wholly scientific and self-evident fact, although others misunderstand it as being philosophical or religious in nature) is that causality does not exist, and that apparent links between events are simply coincidental interconnected “lines of occurrence” which may be either pleasingly serendipitous or discouragingly infelicitous. Denying causality might seem rather dangerous, but it works for Torve, who even seems able to use his method to predict how matters will turn out. Villiers claims to be non-plussed by all this, but I get the feeling that he understands more than he admits, and this way of thinking actually benefits him and gives him uncommon insight into events. However, I stress to add that this could just be my interpretation and may not have been the intention of the author.
In summary, Star Well is a light science fiction novel which is both quick and fun to read. The plot is adequate but rather basic and predictable. The most memorable aspects are arguably the quotable passages of narration and the witticisms. Here are some of them:
“Power does corrupt. Total personal honesty is a myth. Secret wrong righting is a make-believe game for children to toy with.”
“When you wish to insult a man — the Cut Direct. When you wish to snub a man — the Cut Indirect. The Studied Insult, the Pertinent Reflection — to be overheard, of course — even the smiles available for twelve separate effects.”
“You can take it as an axiom: celebrities who travel meet only fools, creeps, panhandlers, and climbers. People they would truly like to meet never have the bad taste to present themselves. The quality that makes them worth meeting automatically determines they will never be met.”
“While he lied little, he was excellent at being oblique.”
“It is a pity that the game of hare and hounds should suffer from savage rabbits and hen-hearted hounds, but if the world was as it ought to be we would all be playing wooden whistles and eating bananas in Eden, as my mother used to say.”
“Perhaps, if our minds were trained to accept the idea and our language permitted, it would be altogether better not to believe in causality.”
“Duels aren’t fair if the wrong people win them.”
“Look at him: Hisan Bashir Shirabi, a man near the end of the line. Purple robes, dark face, sharp nose, black mustache. Everything for total menace except the element of presence.”
First of all, if the reader expects another novel like Panshin’s Rite of Passage, Star Well may cause some disappointment, since this book is very different in content and style.
Some reviewers have described Star Well as a “comedy of manners”, something like a Jane Austen novel set in a future space-faring civilization or like a less overtly ludicrous The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I wonder if Douglas Adams ever read it, as there are certain similarities in the style of the narration. The narrator has definite opinions, and often expresses them with mild sarcasm. A similar feature to Rite of Passage may be found in the pithy and often humorous observations about the nature of life, the universe and society.
The protagonist, Anthony Villiers, is a very likable, mild-mannered gentleman with hidden depths. I identified with him because he loves books and has a tendency to walk about in public absorbed in reading (which can at times also provide Villiers with an excuse for ending up where he is not supposed to be), something I used to do frequently in my younger days. He is evidently practiced at searching antiquarian book sellers, which makes him a man after my own heart. The observation of the narrator that physical books never lost their popularity because nothing else of similar usefulness and portability could be invented to replace them has of course in our day to an extent been invalidated by the capacity of devices like mobile phones to store and display thousands of different texts, which you could conceivably become immersed in while navigating thoroughfares on foot.
Villiers’ invariably polite but highly intelligent and strategically witty conversational responses are one of the most amusing aspects of the story. The reader gradually realizes that there is more to this man than at first meets the eye, but you never really get a handle on exactly how ingenuous or calculating he really is.
And this brings us to Torve the Trog. I must admit that I chose to read this book on the basis of a fascination with this name and its promise of an unforgettable character. Torve is a book-loving alien who looks something like a man-sized furry toad, and he has a view of reality which is at variance with that of the humans around him, including Villiers, who apparently finds the Trog’s ideas impossible to comprehend. Torve’s central belief (which he maintains is a wholly scientific and self-evident fact, although others misunderstand it as being philosophical or religious in nature) is that causality does not exist, and that apparent links between events are simply coincidental interconnected “lines of occurrence” which may be either pleasingly serendipitous or discouragingly infelicitous. Denying causality might seem rather dangerous, but it works for Torve, who even seems able to use his method to predict how matters will turn out. Villiers claims to be non-plussed by all this, but I get the feeling that he understands more than he admits, and this way of thinking actually benefits him and gives him uncommon insight into events. However, I stress to add that this could just be my interpretation and may not have been the intention of the author.
In summary, Star Well is a light science fiction novel which is both quick and fun to read. The plot is adequate but rather basic and predictable. The most memorable aspects are arguably the quotable passages of narration and the witticisms. Here are some of them:
“Power does corrupt. Total personal honesty is a myth. Secret wrong righting is a make-believe game for children to toy with.”
“When you wish to insult a man — the Cut Direct. When you wish to snub a man — the Cut Indirect. The Studied Insult, the Pertinent Reflection — to be overheard, of course — even the smiles available for twelve separate effects.”
“You can take it as an axiom: celebrities who travel meet only fools, creeps, panhandlers, and climbers. People they would truly like to meet never have the bad taste to present themselves. The quality that makes them worth meeting automatically determines they will never be met.”
“While he lied little, he was excellent at being oblique.”
“It is a pity that the game of hare and hounds should suffer from savage rabbits and hen-hearted hounds, but if the world was as it ought to be we would all be playing wooden whistles and eating bananas in Eden, as my mother used to say.”
“Perhaps, if our minds were trained to accept the idea and our language permitted, it would be altogether better not to believe in causality.”
“Duels aren’t fair if the wrong people win them.”
“Look at him: Hisan Bashir Shirabi, a man near the end of the line. Purple robes, dark face, sharp nose, black mustache. Everything for total menace except the element of presence.”
ibrow's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fun, clever, adventurous, short read. The author plays with your expectations. A step above the average SF book from it's era.
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